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Puppies

Frequently Asked Questions regarding puppies in general.

• When do puppies open their eyes?
   

  Puppies normally open their eyes 10-14 days after birth.

• When should I have my puppy spayed or neutered?
   

  We recommend spaying or neutering your pet between it's 6th - 8th month of age.

• Will my puppies eyes stay blue?
   

  When puppies first open their eyes they are all blue.  By their 5th - 7th week of age we can generally tell if they are going to turn amber.  Sometimes pups eyes will not begin to change until 3 to 6 months of age and all can continue to have eye color changes until after they are a year old.

Siberian Husky

General Frequently Asked Questions regarding the Siberian Husky Breed.

• How are Siberian Huskies with children?
   

  Children, Siberian Huskies, and a family atmosphere all go hand in hand.  Having a husky is honestly like having another child.  They are your best friend and your big baby at the same time.  They get jealous, demand attention, and crave playtime just as a kid does!  Huskies are not aggressive by nature and do great with children of all ages.  Just like any animal they do not like having they're tails or hair pulled things of that nature, so if you have children that enjoy doing that then you need to supervise them at all times and discipline them better.

• How do Siberian Huskies get along with cats?
   

  Siberian Huskies and cats generally do not get along.  There are many reasons behind this assessment.

  First, the Siberian Husky instinctively has a high prey drive.  They will hunt and even stalk something they are interested in.  When it comes to cats they generally ignore them, until the cat runs from them.  When this occurs it sets off that prey drive I mentioned.  Immediatly the husky goes into a different mind frame.  The instinct to run down their "prey" takes over.

  Secondly, a cat rather than a husky is primarily more meek and less self assured.  Most of the time cats that have this sort of attitude are less likely to do well with their husky counterpart.

  All is not lost, cat owners and husky lovers!  There are proven methods to owning a husky AND a cat.  The first thing to do would be assess your cat.  What is your cats attitude, how does it react to other dogs, how does it react when being aggrevated?  If your cat will stand up for it's self, not be backed down, nip back at you when you aggrevate it, etc., chances are your cat will do fine.  Plainly speaking your cat needs umph!  It needs a kiss my tail attitude toward another animal.  If your cat doesn't pass this test, my recommendation would be to research some other breeds.  You could end up with a loss on your hands.

  Next, your cat's passed the test!  But, that's not all.  It takes more than just cat attitude.  Now you must ask yourself how much effort and time you are willing to put in to training your husky.  Training any puppy takes time.  But, you are wanting to accomplish something a bit more time intensive.  You must be the one to stick to your guns, no one else can do it for you.  If your sure the extra aggravation is worth it then there is one thing you must do.  NEVER let the dog chase the cat.  That's it.  It sounds simple enough but it really isn't.  You must stop it every single time it occurs.  Your dog must be punished (positively) every single time, he must know you are angry, he must know it's not allowed, these facts must be ingrained into his brain at a core level.

  On that note.  To all my clients I recommend taking a basic and then an advanced puppy course thru your local PetSmart.  The cost is generally around $100 for a 6-8 week session.  Obedience classes are really more for the human than the canine.  The instructors will teach you how to get your dog to do what you want and they will mostly teach you how to be master.  With this breed you must be master and you must always be in charge.  No exceptions.

• How do you contain your Siberian Huskies?
   

  Oh my!  Here on the farm, when pulling up to our home, you'd think it's Fort Knox!  That's what it feels like.

  Initially, we didn't have any fencing.  We parked a trailor and lived in it while we built our home.  During that time we just had Sky.  She had complete run of the farm.  There were no problems with this until she was about a year old.  Our neihbors had 16 ugly, smelly, stinky ducks.  Sky took to eating them!  Yep, she loved them.  How many did she eat, you ask?  Now they have 4, you do the math!

  Needless to say we had to hurry along and move into our home where we had a 3 board fence and a large dog pen.  Our aunt and uncle had given us a PetSafe underground electric dog fence which we went ahead and installed.  We didn't bury our wire, we simply run it along the bottom board on our fence.  Sky being as brave as she is would still take the buzz and jump thru the boards.  We then found a new collar made for the fence called a Stubborn Dog Receiver.  This was wonderful.  It has a much higher buzz setting and proved well with our containment problems.

  We then got Tonka and introduced him to it and he did great too!  Then came Star.  Well, Star is the exception to every rule.  Her coat is SO fluffy the metal prongs can't reach her skin.  Thus Star can get out of our yard.  We took to shaving Star's neck right at the prong area, which worked until I decided to show her and had to let the fluff come back.  So to the pen with Star during the daytime and inside the secured house at night.

  Cheyenne joined our family in early 2006.  She took to the collar well from the beginning and spends her days in the yard with Tonka and Sky.  She's been super.

  Sky took to running out of the yard thru the entrance.  We bought a metal gate with some extra wire around it to prevent that and also a push button gate opener that closes after 15 seconds.  Sky doesn't get out that way anymore.

  My fence pro hubby decided he had the answer to the fence problem with Star.  We took high tinsel wire and stretched it between the middle and bottom board on our fence.  Then we ran goat fencing from the ground to the top of the bottom board.  Oh now, it simply must be inpenatrable.  Nope.  Not for Star.  With her shocks not really affecting her she has plenty of time to squeeze between the tinsel wire and out to chase the cows.

  I am in control of the next fencing decision.  I plan to run the goat fencing from the ground to the top board and stake it to the ground.  I believe at that point our dogs could all roam the yard freely.  The only thing holding that up is time...

  Now after all that here are some suggestions.  The best husky fencing is privacy or chain link, 6 foot in height.  The ideal arrangement is burried chicken wire along the edge.  The last part is less necessary if you can keep an eye on your husky when it's in the yard.

• What is the ideal containment method for a Siberian Husky?
   

  The ideal containment method would be 6ft high privacy or chain link fencing.  Huskies love to dig so we also recommend burying chicken wire around the edge of your fencing.

• Why does everyone say "NEVER let your husky off a lead"?
   

  This is pretty simple.  Siberian Huskies have been bred for generations to outperform other dogs when it comes to endurance and stamina.  No matter how much training and how trustworthy you feel your husky is, if he is let loose he will run.  Farther and farther away from you.

  Just like the husky has a prey drive they also have a "run drive".  Their eyes kinda get a glazed over look to them and they're off.  It is absolutely no fun to chase after and try to find one of these dogs once they get loose.  I have years of experience with it, I'm not kidding.

  Sky and Star got loose about a year ago.  I searched for hours.  I got a phone call from a gentleman 4 miles away saying he had caught Star and had seen Sky but couldn't catch her.  He lived a mile away from the interstate.  Sky finally came home of her own free will 2 hours later.

  Now let's analyze this situation.  What if I lived in a suburban neihborhood instead of out in the sticks?  Well that 4 mile jaunt could have resulted in:  a.) dog is never found  b.) dog gets hit by a car  c.) dog get's picked up and stolen never to be seen again.  There are many variations that could be explored but that should give you an idea of the most common.

  So please, never let your husky loose in an uncontained area.  No matter what. 

Policies and Proceedure

Questions conserning the what if's and how we handle them.

• Do you offer a guarantee?
   

  Here is our Health Guarantee/Warranty as defined on our Puppy Purchase Contract:

   

  You are required to take the dog to a licensed veterinarian for a thorough exam, necessary shots, and any necessary medication by (date defined on puppy purchase contract, generally 3-4 weeks from pickup appointment).

   

  If at this time there are life threatening problems with the dog that originated while in our care, we the Seller agrees to exchange this puppy with another from the same litter or different at our discretion.

   

  We the Seller warrants that the dog is a purebred and that the pedigree is correct and will be provided to the Buyer at the time of sale.  The dog is registerable with the AKC.

   

  The buyer understands that the Seller has limited information and control regarding the future temperament, habits, and appearance of the dog, and hence does not warrant such.

   

  Basically, we guarantee the pup to be healthy and sound during it's life here with us and at your pick up.  We have no control over it's exposure thereafter and do not warrant it.  We have had no problems with any dog ever bred here, and have many clients willing to testify to such.
• How long are deposits good for?
   

  We recently had a puppy depositor discover they are expecting a child.  His question was "How long will I honor his deposit"?

   

  I'm not going anywhere and neither is your deposit.  I will float deposits to new litters until you've found the right puppy for you or until your home is ready.

• How long do you keep the puppies before sending them home to their new families?
   

  We keep the pups until they are 8 weeks old.  This way all their shots are current and they have had ample time to socialize.

  For special circumstances we will hold pups longer for our clients.  We understand getting fencing in and other things may hold you off a couple of weeks.  After the pups 10th week of age we charge a $50 per week holding fee.

• How much are deposits?
   

  Deposits are $200 per pup.  For long distance depositors we accept PayPal.  We add a 3% transaction fee for PayPal deposits, making PayPal deposits, $206 per pup.  For visitors placing deposits we will accept cash.  There are no transaction fees associated with this method.

• What forms of payment do you accept?
   

  For new clients, the initial deposit can be placed by paypal.

  After the initial deposit has been placed via paypal, we will accept payments thru cashiers checks, personel checks, business checks, paypal, and cash.

  Our mailing address is:

  Jessica Swartz
  140 Mountaineer Lane
  Natural Bridge, VA 24578

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  Do not send us money unless you have received an approved application notice.